Gazing at the four items before her, Emily wills her system into activation.

  ˉˉˉˉˉ

  [tribution Market Token]

  [Rank:] E

  [Description:] A mobile terminal for accessing the tribution market within The Isle of the Blessed.

  [Effect:] When mana is elled, opens a limited link for the user’s sciouso the tribution database. Only works within The Isle of the Blessed.

  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

  [Course List Token]

  [Rank:] E

  [Description:] A mobile terminal for accessing the css list within The Isle of the Blessed.

  [Effect:] When mana is elled, opens a limited link for the user’s sciouso the course database. Only works within The Isle of the Blessed.

  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

  [Mandrago Family Crest]

  [Rank:] E

  [Description:] A crest of the Mandrago family, engraved to allow for the trag and transfer of ‘tribution points’.

  [Effect:] Tracks the user’s tribution point total. When mana is elled, allows for the transfer of tribution points.

  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

  [unication Crystal]

  [Rank:] D

  [Description:] A space attribute mana crystal engraved with a unication spell.

  [Effect:] When mana is elled, creates a link with a partner crystal irrespective of the distaween them.

  _____

  The descriptions of the tokens match Emily’s expectations, firmiheory of the clerk in the information hub using crystals to ect te data hub. However, the description of the unication crystal catches her off guard, with the rank being higher than she expected after the first three items.

  Are unication spells high level? I would have thought the tokens should be higher rank if that’s the case. Maybe space attribute crystals are higher level and that affects it?

  She quickly adds ara o her notebook.

  Work out what affects the grade of items.

  -Level of knowledge used?

  -Level of materials used?

  I should remember to use the system for information gathering.

  With no other reason to keep them out, Emily puts her crest and unication crystal back within her robes, then picks up the market token. Closing her eyes, she is a small amount of mana into the crystal and flinches as she feels a e being formed with it.

  A simple interface, simir to the one she uses for the system, appears in her mind. However, this one seems far weaker. She tell that the e will be broken the moment she opens her eyes, and the interface will scatter.

  The interface has three selectable categories, simir to the tabs on her system, ‘Resource Exge’, ‘Product Exge’, and ‘Service Exge’. Looking at the options before her, Emily first focuses on the resource exge. The words in her mind dissolve and are repced by another short sele: ‘Mana Crystals’, ‘Beast Materials’, ‘Magical Metals and Minerals’, and ‘Magical Pnts’.

  She’s immediately drawn to the mana crystal list, eager to uand the market. This time, as the short sele fades, a long scrolble list appears. Along the top of the list are four n titles: ‘Element’, ‘Grade’, ‘Stock’, and ‘Price per item’. As Emily focuses on each of them, a small arrow pointing up or doears o the title.

  After a few moments of testing, she realises that the arrow fag up sorts by highest value, and down sorts by lowest. S by the highest value element, which sorts the elements alphabetically, Emily scrolls through the list, noting the prig and stock ts for the crystals being split into groups.

  Fire, wind, water ah each cost five tribution points for lesser crystals, ten points for normal crystals and fifty points freater crystals. Light, darkness and lightning crystals cost ten points for lesser crystals and twenty points for normal crystals, with greater crystals not being sold. While space, metal aal crystals only have lesser crystals avaible for twenty points.

  Hmm, it looks like they’ve divided the six os, and even included lightning with light and dark, strahey don’t cover a lot of exotic elements, there aren’t even pnt or sound crystals avaible. Well, the stock for the exotic elements is dismal pared to the on, so maybe they don’t dispy a if there isn’t stock. I wonder if rare exotic crystals are among the items Juliana was talking about people putting up after missions? I’ll have to remember to keep cheg in on this sistently.

  Ahought occurs to her.

  Do they even know other eleme? Maybe the system has given me more information oic elements than this world has. I’ll have to be careful with which elements I use till I’m certain.

  Emily mentally discards a few mae ideas she’d been toying with since she received mana formation knowledge due to the ck of crystal avaibility. Sighing with resignation, she navigates back to the st sele with ease due to her practice with the system and focuses on magical metals and minerals.

  This time there are only three ns, ‘Item’, ‘Stock’, and ‘Price per kg’, and the list is short, only taining four items. Seeing the short list assures Emily of her assumption that other items are only put up when there is stock.

  There’s no way they don’t know more than three magical metals and one mineral.

  Moving on quickly to the beast materials and magical pnts, Emily finds these two ses also only include ‘Item’, ‘Stock, and ‘Price per item’. Both lists are much loha one, however, she only spares them a cursnce, her ck of knowledge iher area making them far less useful right now.

  Moving back to the initial category sele, she focuses on the product exge , finding a long list with four ns, ‘Item’, ‘Stock’, ‘Description’, and ‘Price per item’. She scrolls the list, finding a plethora of magical oddities avaible, from the endless ink quills for twenty tribution points to oime use teleportation crystals for two hundred. However, her attention is drawn towards the mana and healing potions for fifteen points each.

  Finally, Emily looks through the service exge. This time instead of a list split apart into multiple ns, each item simply has a title and description. Reading through a couple of the services, she finds a few library study sessions like Juliana spoke about earlier, and even a few direct tut offers. But the ohat i Emily more are the offers of specific magical skills, such as engraving magical tattoos to enhance your body or preparing arrays to protect your room. The offers for these include several materials the er is required to provide along with the tribution point cost.

  After browsing the exge for a while and growing more excited to start learning, she opens her eyes, breaking the e with the token. She adds two new o the bottom of the page before her while crossing off two finished ones.

  Cheunication crystal, market token, css token and my crest with the system.

  Look through the tribution market.

  Learn Alchemy.

  Learn tattoo engraving.

  Cheg the time quickly and finding it to be 7:30, Emily pces the market token into the drawer, o the unication crystal, and reaches for her css token. Once again iing a small amount of mana and closing her eyes, a new menu appears in her mind.

  Only three categories are dispyed: ‘Avaible Courses’, ‘Registered Courses’, and ‘pleted Courses’. ‘pleted courses’ is a dull grey, catg Emily’s eye. However, wheries to focus on it, the menu remains the same.

  Ah, I guess grey means unavaible then; probably because I haven’t finished any courses yet.

  She moves her focus to ‘Avaible Courses’, bringing up a long list with three ns: ‘Course’, ‘Grade’ and ‘Prerequisites’. Scrolling through the long list, she sees a rge variety of lessons, from history to hand-to-hand bat and spell creation.

  Every course is designated a grade from basic to advanced. Emily quickly skims over the general subjects such as etiquette, history, and geography, all graded as basic. This is in stark trast to the magic-reted subjects, the majority of which span all three grades, with a few only avaible at intermediate her and requiring basic courses tister.

  Emily’s attention is drawn to the hand-to-hand bat and alchemy courses. Alchemy is only avaible at intermediate and advanced levels and requires the basic courses: ‘Beast Studies’ and ‘Magic Theory’ tister. Whereas hand-to-hand bat starts at basic with no requirements, and goes up to intermediate, which requires basic magibat, catg Emily off guard.

  Do they have a way of using magic for close-quarters bat? I thought most of these nobles would be too stuck up to do that. Maybe I punch a few snobs while staying fit.

  With a smirk, Emily registers for the hand-to-hand bat course by fog on it till the menu ges to a prompt askio firm her registration. The moment hand-to-hand bat disappears from the list, she opens her eyes and picks up the quill again.

  Learn Alchemy.

  -Beast studies first.

  I look at more courses ter, first I should get through the ones I’m already signed up for.

  She quickly pulls up the token’s menu again, this time going into the ‘Registered Courses’. The six expected courses appear in a short list with four ns, ‘Course’, ‘Current Grade’, ‘Highest Grade’, and ‘Modules’.

  All six courses are at the current grade of basic. Etiquette, geopolitid English all have the highest grade of basic, with maths and hand-to-hand bat going up to intermediate. Magic theory alone is the only course Emily is currently registered for that goes up to the advanced level.

  This is also reflected in the module t for each course. The three basic limited courses all only have one or two modules each, but Maths has three and hand-to-hand bat has six. However, far outstripping all the others, magic theory has twelve. Curious, Emily focuses on magic theory and watches the list before her shift to a detailed s on the course.

  The twelve modules of the course are split into two groups. The first group is a group of four, all of which must be pleted before she advance: elemental sele, ts, natural mana formation and mana manipution. The sed is a group of eight: the six os, plus id lightning. Here, she only o plete oo advance.

  These modules are dispyed before Emily in a scattered chart with the two groups buogether. As she focuses on each module, it expands to give the time and location of the css. Emily checks all of her courses and finds that her lesson is elemental sele in two days. Opening her eyes, she pces the course list token down in the open drawer.

  Two days until magic lessons start… I guess I use this time to draw up some ideas for an E rank mae. I’ll probably o leave the dome to buy materials though, maybe I should ask Juliana to show me around the city ter.

  As she begins pulling the map out of her pocket to look it over, she hears a knog at her door.

  “Speak of the devil.”

  She tosses the map onto the desk and stands up to leave.

  Guess I ask her now.

  ***

  At dinner, Juliana eagerly agrees to show Emily around the city in ten days' time wheher of them have any csses. The ass by quickly, with Emily and Juliaing up daily to eat meals. Emily spends the rest of her time meditating, spellweaving, and drawing up blueprints in preparation for her trip out into the city.

  On the m of her third day in The Dome, Emily eats breakfast with Juliana before her first lesson.

  “Why don’t you ever seem to meet up with other friends?” Emily asks a question that has been on her mind over the past few days while taking a bite of her toast.

  “Ah, most of my friends are away from The Dome on missions at the moment, and the ohat aren’t are all too busy studying,” Juliana answers with a grumpy pout that makes Emily chuckle.

  “Speaking of, your first css is today, isn’t it? You’re not gonna start ign me too, are you?”

  “Nah,” Emily snorts and rolls her eyes at the huge puppy dog eyes Juliana uses to emphasise her question, “as long as I still o eat, I’m happy to match schedules with you to have pany.”

  “Good,” Juliana responds, smiling with smug satisfa. “But you should probably get going now if you want to reach css on time.”

  Emily pulls out The Clock to ched finds it’s already 8:50, ten minutes left till her css starts.

  “Yeah, I should,” she agrees while standing up and colleg her notebook and quill from the table in front of her. “I’ll see you at lunch.”

  “See you ter!”

  She turns with a st wave to Juliana and walks towards the transportation circles to leave the cafeteria. A short dimensional jump ter Emily finds herself walking through a hallway with signifitly more foot traffic than she is used to seeing in The Dome.

  Passing by her oher side are dozens of robed mages with varying colours ating their robes and differing crests on their chests. A rge majority of the crests bear silver or bronze ats, with only a few people wearing gold. Of the people she sees with goldes, all of them have two or three silver and bronze crests following them closely like protective guards.

  Emily quietly makes her way through the hallway and soon es to a stop in front of a rge dark wooden door with the glowing words ‘Elemental Sele’ embzoned on the silver pte in the tre of it. She raises her hand and grasps the smooth silver doorknob. Twisting it, she pushes the door open as a grin spreads across her face.

  Time to py with magic.